Locker-latch.



1 B. OCONNOR.

I LOCKER LATCH. APPLICATION FILED mac. 11, m5.

Patented May 23,- 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. OC'ONNOR, or AURORA, ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR 'ro LvoNHvIh'rALLIo MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, or AURORA, ILLINoIs, A CORPORATION or ILLINoIs.

LOCKER-LATCH.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN B. OCoNNoR,

nets of the general type. in which there isv 110 a door hinged to the structure and provided with mechanism for locking the door in closed position.

My invention is particularly useful in connection with steel lockers of the class 15,used in club dressing rooms, factories, and

I elsewhere.

My present invention is concerned more particularly with the door handle and what may he referred to generally as the locking mechanism, although my invention is not necessarily confined to that type of'locking mechanism in which a key lock or combination lock is employed.

I have chose-1'1 to illustrate the invention in connection with a present commercial steel locker, and while I have shown, incl ,dentally, a special form of reinforcement for the door, I do not hereinclaim such reinfprced construction, as this forms the subject of a separate application filed by me December 31, 1915. Serial Number (39,535.

The object of my present invention is to provide locking; mechanism which will antomatically take hold when the door is simply pushed closed and will automatically release by merely exerting a pull upon the door handle.

More specifically, it is my purpose to pro- I vide a vertically sliding latch bar located on the inside of the door and adapted to move to operative position under the action of gravity, and a lever handle on the outside of the door fulcrumed near its upper end and normally lying substantially parallel to the face of the door and automatically lifting the latch bar when an outward pull is exerted upon the handle.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide means for locking the bar in operative position by mechanism located entirely on v the inside of the'door, the door being imperforate except for the keyhole and having no rivet heads or other fastening devices penetrating to the outside of the door. Another object of the invention is f'to pro" Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 17,1915.

number of latches I Patented May 23, 1916.

Serial No. 67,320.

vide simple and effective means for preventing the door from being pried open.

I accomplish my ohiects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a set of lockers embodying my invention. In each view a portion of the wall is broken away to reveal certain details of internal construction. Fig. 3 is a perspective view looking at the inside of the door and showing the latching and locking mechanism. Fig. 4 is a perspective view somewhat similar to Fig. 3 which shows the particular manner of mounting the latching and locking mechanism when used special reinforced construction previously mentioned. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail in perspective showing the cotiperation of the latch bar and its stationary keeper. Fig, (i is a view looking. toward the back of the door and showing the latching and locking inechan'ism illustrated in Fig; 3. 7 is a sectional elevation on the line 77, Fig. 6.' Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation on the line 8-8, Fig. 6. Fig. (9 is a perspective view of the latch bar and mechanism which operates the same. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the fulcrum plate which is mounted on the outside of the door and supports the lever handle or door pull. F

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views' In. the drawings, the stationary part of the locker is indicated in general by the reference numeral 1 and the door by the reference numeral 2. The construction of these parts, so far as my present invention is con' cerned, may be greatly varied without. departing from the spirit of the invention,

but in the form shown, the angle iron 3 forms that portion of the door frame which comes adjacent to the vertical edge of the door remotefrom the hinges 4:.

The door :2 has a marginal flange 5 which extends inward and comes adjacent to the angle iron 3. The latch bar 6,"Which.is shown separately in Fig. 9, has a number of elongated slots 7, which extend longitudinally of the bar and receive headed pins 8 wh'icn are fastened to'fiange 5 in such position as to hold the bar in sliding contact with the massaia l st in connection with the for said flangewise rigidly fastened to bar 6 and provided with hooked ends which drop over and engage the cross extensions 11 of the keepers 11. Said keepers are riveted or otherwise securely fastened to the inside of the angle iron 3 adjacent to the vertical edge thereof and in the preferred form have a special configuration which is perhaps best illustrated in Fig. 5. In this preferred form each keeper has a base 11" which is fastened to the angle iron and a standard 11 extending therefrom parallel and adjacent to the outer surface of the door flange 5. The cross extension 11 extends from the end of the standard across the door flange and is engaged by the hooked end of the latch. A terminal flange 11 projects at right angles to the cross extension 11 so as to engage the inner side (or closely approach the inner side) of the latch. As a result of this construction it is impossible to force the door open by inserting a jimmy or other prying tool, for the flange l1 prevents the latch from being forced laterally away from the keeper.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the latch bar is slidingly mounted upon the inside of the flange 5 and is provided with a plurality of latches which when lowered drop over and engage and are engaged by keepers rigidly mounted on the stationary part'of the locker. These parts move freely in a vertical direction and hence gravity tends to move the parts into latching or acting position when the door is closed. The inner ends of the latches 10 are rounded so as to automatically ride over the keepers as the door is closing. The latch bar is lifted by means of a reversing lever 13 which is longitudinally slotted at one extremity to receive the in M'projecting from the lug 15 rigidly astened to the inside of the latch bar. Said lever 13 is fulcrumed between its ends upon a pin 17 carried by a plate 18 fastened to the inside of the door. Said lever is connected at its inner end by a link 20 to the horizontal arm 21 of the lever handle. The handle proper consists of 2:. depending arm 22 which is preferably formed integral with the arm 21 and normally extends downward substantially parallel to the front of the door as shown, for example, in Fig. 7. The handle is supported upon a pin 23 carried by the cars 24 of the fulcrum plate 25, said plate being shown separately in Fig. 10.

A lock 2!) is secured to the plate 18 and is operated by a key which enters through a hole 30 formed in the door asshown in Fig. i. This lock has a bolt 28 which when projected engages said reversing lever and holds it in locked position. According to the best practice the lock 2!) and the fulcrum pin 17 are fastened merely to plate 18 and the plate itself is afterward spotwelded or otherwise fastened to the back of the door. Thisis of important advantage because it enables the door to presentan imperforate surface at the front except where the key and the door lever pass through. Consequently. it is practically impossible for any one to tamper with the mechanism or remove anyof the parts or put them out of order. In fact nothing appears from the front except the lever handle and the key hole barrel and boss and there is nothing to afford a clew to either the shape, locationor construction of the operating and locking mechanism. also desirable, for the same reason, to fasten the fulcrum plate in the manner shown. This plate is of cast metal and has pins 25 formed on the back, as best shown in Figs. 7 and 10. Thesepass through suitable apertures in the door and in the plate 18 and when riveted over at the inner end hold the parts securely together and yet are invisible from the front.

In operation, the latch bar is, normally held by gravity in lower-most position. As the door swings shut the latrines automatically ride over the keepers 11 and finally drop automatically into acting position. When it is desired to open the door, all that is necessary, is to pull on the lever handle 2;, the pull serving the double purposeof lifting the latches and, whenthese are released, swinging the door to open position. A simple pull is the most natural movement to impart to any handle. but with most handles it is necessary to turn the handle to release the latching mechanism and the pull simply opens the door after the latching mechanism is released. With my construction, however, the first half inch or so of the movement of the door handle is devoted to releasing the latch and the balance of the movement, in the same direction, is effective for swinging the door. No conscious lifting or turning movement is required of the operator and it may be said, therefore, that the action required of the operator is of the simplest possible form. If it is desired to lock the parts after they become latched it is simply necessary to turn the key in the lock, which projects the bolt 2.8, which in turn prevents the lever 13 from rotating and holds the door securely locked.

H a ving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

l. A locker having a door hinged thereto, a gravity operated, vertically slidable latching element mounted on the inside of the door, a lever handle fulerunied upon the door upon the outside thereof, said handle hanging down substantially parallel to the door and having an arm passing through the door to the inside thereof, and a reversing lever pivoted between its ends to the inside It is.

of the door, said reversinglever being connected at one end to the latching element and at theother end to the innerend of. the handle, whereby a pull upon said handle perpendicularl to the surfaceof the door lifts said latching element.

2. A locker having a door hinged thereto, a plurality of keepers fastened to the locker adjacent to the door, latches for engaging said keepers, a gravity operated latch bar vertically slidable upon said door and having said latches fastened thereto, a fulcrunied plate fastened to the outside of the door, a lever handle hangingdown in, front of the door approximately parallel thereto and being pivoted at its upper end to said fulcrum plate, on the outside of the door, the lever handle having an arm passing through an aperture in the door, and a reversing lever pivoted between itsends to the inside of the door, and articulately connected at one end to the inner end of the lever handle and at the other end to said latch bar, whereby an outward pull upon the handle perpendicularly away from the door lifts said latches.

3. The combination with a locker and hinged locker door, of a flange located at the edge of the door opposite to the hinges and extending inwardly from the face of the door, a keeper fastened to the door frame adjacent to the flange, said keeper having a ortion extending horizontally inward parallel to the door flange, thence laterally across the inner. edge of the flange to form a cross extension, a latch slidable verticallyupon' the door and, adapted to drop over and engage said cross extension, and means forraising and lowering said latch.

4. The combination with a locker and hinged locker door, of a flange located at the edge of the door opposite to the hinges and extending inwardly fromthe face of the door, a keeper fastened to the door frame adjacent to the flange, said keeper having a portion forming vertlca extending horizontally inward parallel to. the door flange, thence laterally across the' inner edge of the flange to form a cross extension, thence horizontally inward thereby a terminal flange, a latch slidable ly upon the door and adapted to drop over and engage the cross extension of said keeper, the nose of the latch thereupon lying adjacent to the" said terminal flange, and means for raising and lowering said latch. H

5. In a locker, the combination of a door,

a vertically movable, gravity operated latching element, a reversing lever pivoted to the inside of the door and connected at one end to said latching element for raising it, a handle depending from a pivot located on the outside of said door said handle being connected to said reversing lever for operatingit, a lock having a bolt adapted to pass beneath the end of the reversing lever oppo site to the end where said lever is connected to said latching element, said lock being located on the inside of the door and the door being apertured opposite to the keyhole of the lock for receiving the key, where by the lock may be operated.

6, A locker having a sheet metal door, a

flat sheet metal plate parallel to and in con-- tact with the back of the door and fastened thereto, a latching element slidably mounted upon said door, a lever on the back of said plate, said lever being connected to [said latching element for operating it, a pivot supporting said lever, said pivot being supported solely by said plate, a pendant door pull pivoted at its upper end to the door and connected to said lever for operating it, and a lock located upon the back of the plate and supported solely by said platefor preventing the movement of said lever.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN B. OCONNOR. 

